Ivory tower
by Zombie-onigiri
Summary: Kiaria's usual routine of lamenting at her life is interrupted by the sudden near-death experience. With her life now complicated more than ever and her beliefs continuously shattered, she will need to learn what needs to be done to survive. And fast. Hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

This is normal OC, not SIOC/reincarnation.

I know I should be working on Abyss... but I had this idea for so long (certainly longer than Abyss) and it continued to eat me that I still didn't write it up... so here it is.

I know where I want to go from there, but it will be side project (probably) thus don't expect regular updates (ha! regular... funny... what is that ). Though I guess it's up to how much this work will be popular/unpopular.

I am horrible in descriptions, so just imagine that Kiaria (OC) looks like the image of this fanfiction.

 **Warning for the whole FF:** fuu there will not be a lot of swear words (at least not from OC), but this one will be a lot more bloody then Abyss ever will be...additional warning will be in future chapters

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the anime/manga One piece. I only own my OC. The image of this fiction is also not mine, blame google darlings.**

* * *

I was looking down, down, down at the blue sea with pale face. Did I mention that I absolutely _hate_ heights? No? Well, I am mentioning it now.

Sure, I've become better after all those sessions that were supposed to get rid of my phobia, but honestly? There was still little fear lingering that surfaced when I was alone - for example when I was on a look-out position

Like right now. This sucked.

I seriously didn't know who had the bright idea to stick a person who was suffering from lingering Acrophobia into _Crow's nest_. Like really, really high into the air.

Well I guess I could see the point as I was practically useless in fights (what with my aversion to blood and wounds in general), didn't have any talent in managing the ship, didn't knew shit about _repairing_ ships and outside of knowing herbs and other flowers that could help health, my standard treating techniques had a lot to desire. The only thing that I had going for me and that caused me to move in ranks was my natural use of Kenbunshoku Haki - so 'naturally' I had to be put into this position. Right. Didn't mean I have to like it though.

In the first place I was satisfied with being low ranking officer who cleaned headquarters (and docked ships) all day long and whose only difficulty of the day was deciding which cleaning product to use on what. There was the advantage of spending time in the headquarters' gardens too - I was assigned as a main worker there after it was found out that I was doing a good job in taking care of them. And I enjoyed it, so nobody had to be nearby to stop me from slacking off - as was the usual for other chore boys/girls who were assigned there.

I didn't have any aspiration to rise in ranks from the start. I didn't even want to be a marine for potato's sake - but if I wanted to continue to live in Marineford, along with my grandma, I just had to.

Then everything changed when it was discovered that I actually had some use - outside of my gardener skills that is. Our relatives from my father's side were pretty thrilled. They immediately sent my father's older brother to cultivate my talent and arranged for me to have a one year long vacation too - it was scary how much influence those with money had.

I was trained by uncle in Haki - he tried to teach me Busoshoku Haki as well, but unfortunately (for me fortunately though) I was total failure in that. When he didn't have time to teach me (he was pretty high in the ranks afterall - no matter how he may look), my grandma continued her hellish training that I had to endure from the moment it was decided that I will be marine. Though throughout that year her training was very different and harder from what l was used to. Her reasoning was that there will be high possibility of me encountering enemy once I leave the safety of the Marineford. She gave me her old gun, too, saying that she would hardly ever used it again.

All those training came in handy once I experienced my first fight (and simultaneously my last). I was holding my ground until… well until blood landed on me. I don't remember clearly whose blood it was I think I didn't even register the source as all I did was look at the red liquid with growing trepidation. It felt so nauseating and I couldn't think clearly anymore. I probably should be glad that nobody killed me in my frozen state.

Of course I had become laughing stock after that - marine that is afraid (I wasn't afraid… I was just disgusted by the crimson body fluid and what it meant when there was some of it on you, especially if it wasn't _your_ blood) of a little blood? What a joke! They tried to get rid of it as they did with my fear of heights… but as it wasn't phobia per se, normal methods weren't working. I knew that spilling blood was considered normal by most, however I just… couldn't see the point of it. Was it really necessary? I know that it was just wishful thinking of a naïve girl but after seeing children twice younger than me actually look forward to executions that sometimes were organized at Marineford (and there was so, _so_ much blood - why did they choose such bloody way of executing?!) I couldn't bring myself to let go of thinking that.

Well… from that day onward I became lookout. I was either up the mast or down under the deck- sleeping or preparing psychically for the next shift. At least the other lookout was good guy- a little on a morose side, but I can't really fault him as I was sour most of time as well.

I wasn't allowed to participate in fights after that first failure (so that I didn't burden others with my presence), instead I was ordered to stay under the deck and after crew returned I dully counted how many didn't come back. It wasn't like I _hated_ to stay out of harm's way, rather opposite if I was being honest, but it just made me feel so… useless. Well no use in crying over the spilled milk, was it?

Without me looking, days merged with months and next thing I realized, it was already two years I spent on the same ship, in the same nest. It was already two years and strangely enough I still couldn't place names to faces and the only ones I talked with were my superiors when I was informing them about what happened on my shift and my colleague - his name was Dopup (and of course my grandma - through letters or when we stopped to resupply in the headquarters).

I sighed and closed my beaver colored eyes, my hands going up to readjust rubber band in my long hair that came lose because of the wind. Then I opened my eyes to observe in boredom the icebergs we were sailing through, my senses stretched past the iced-over sea to look for the potential enemies.

Enough thinking about the past, I had job to do after all.

We were on our way to aid captain Hina in capturing some rookie pirate crew as she had to send half of her fleet with the traitorous Shichibukai (he was being transported to Impel Down).

I scoffed at the thought of that disgusting pirate. I did dislike pirates in general - the only thing they did was causing chaos and bloodsheds. However what brought the revulsion in me the most were backstabbers. Afterall my relatives abandoned us without backward glance and came back once I proved to have a use; they were traitors of a worst caliber who only cared about money and fame.

I was bitter, no point in denying it, especially because it was their fault I was on this ship.

Said ship suddenly changed course nearly making me fall over the railings if it weren't for me swiftly grabbing a rope.

I fell to my knees and breathed deeply to calm my frantically beating heart. Sweet potatoes, I hated this work so much... At least the pay was good.

#####

Climate was starting to calm down, signifying that we were close to Alabasta and meaning that I could descend down from my personal hell.

Finally.

I was so happy to go down, you couldn't even imagine.

I carefully got over the wooden rail and was in the middle of letting go of it and instead gripping ladder when _it_ happened.

 _The ship jerked._

I was _not_ a clumsy person, I just had a problem with coordination if I was nervous or afraid and... in that moment I was both, thanks to my former phobia.

Thus... _I fell._

Now I don't know what others would do in my situation maybe yell at the top of their lungs and wave around in a parody of a bird? Well, I certainly didn't do that. Instead I just... froze up? I wanted to yell, oh sweet carrot, I so wanted, however my mouth clamped up along with all of my muscles. I was falling like a sack of potatoes right into a sea... On the bright side I wasn't destined to splat against deck.

Instead I splashed into waves...

And it seriously hurt. Mother of all cucumbers, why did it hurt so much?!

Though the pain was good for something - it forced my frozen up limbs move again which saved me from drowning, so I was not about to complain. Much.

After I finally got my head above water I proceeded to do all the steps I knew to not let myself fall into the panic attack. The reason for panicking? The damn ship was already so far away!

Now I had two options: thrust all my strength into my limbs and try to catch up (and probably sooner exhaust myself than I actually reach the ship) or preserve my energy and hope that somebody will sail through here and notice me (again highly probable that I sooner drown).

Seeing as both of them had the same chance of survival I chose the one that would let me live a little longer. It was also partly because I just didn't have a willpower to chase after continuously receding ship.

I wonder how long it will take them to notice I wasn't on board? I wasn't social butterfly and usually stayed out of everyone's way until it was time for me to do something... So probably long.

Raising my head I looked detachedly at the blue sky. It was nice day. The shining sun's rays were warming up my damp face. The warm feeling was what broke the dam and I let the first tears fall. This was so unfair. I didn't want to be marine, but it was expected of me. I wanted to take care of colorful flowers at the headquarters' gardens but instead I was transferred to the dull ship. I hated it up in the crow's nest, but still I was forced to go up there.

Yes I was being melodramatic, but hell this was probably my last moments and if I wanted to be melodramatic, I sure as hell will be.

Gaaah, this only made me sad more.

I thought back on my life and funnily enough in this moment, where my mind was suffocated by desperation mixed with regret, all I was remembering were words from the book I read years ago... It was forbidden by the government to own it, but grandma was always a bit of a rebel, whatever she said to counter that.

Anyway, I found the book in the basement of our house and read it secretly after that (though I am sure grandma knew I found it... nothing escaped her notice, especially in her home).

I swiftly realized after only reading few pages why was the book forbidden. It had small undercurrents here and there where the book undermined and made fun of the government and the law power in the world.

And as I was easily influenced child at that time who was to that moment only taught that the word was white and black, with white being Word Government... it was entirely new experience for me. I devoured the book in one go. It was like eating a forbidden fruit, knowing I shouldn't but _still doing it_. It was fulfilling, entertaining, charming… I finally had something solid to build my beliefs on...this book was something of a holy grail to me after that. Of course I was mature enough to hide my new obsession fwith a book.

And funnily enough the content of a book wasn't something intricate and breaking. It was about a man who decided to find the wisest person in the world. Soon he became famous for his quest and people from every corner of the world started to visit him, thinking that they were the ones he was looking for. However nobody from them was proclaimed as such by him.

Until one day, the ruler of the world decided to visit him too... he was then insulted by the man's refusal of saying the emperor was the wisest and he ordered for a man to be executed.

Some tried to help him escape, but the man was already too disappointed by the world and people in general and decided to accept the death with open arms. But not before deciding that his quest was impossible from the start as wise people didn't flaunt their wisdom around instead they taught others silently and didn't look for acknowledgement.

So no, it wasn't about content so much as it was more about the style of writing. It was mixture of a dry humor, hidden scathing remarks and sober wording that touched my core. I had never read something like that before in the obligatory two years school.

Of course when I read other books in the basement they had better content, verbalization and even the language itself was easier to read, but they never made such an impact on me like that first book did. I wonder why?

No point thinking about that now, really. However my impeding death made me realize something... I always thought that everyone around me (except Grandma) were fools like in that book... looking back at it, I was the biggest fool of them all. My death will be stupid too... marine dying because she fell over the ship, when sea was relatively calm.

Gaah... My grandma will so kill me when she gets her hands on me in the afterlife.

I chuckled through the tears at the thought. She probably would be too impatient to wait and instead will revive me just to kill me again.

Well I could at least appreciate the fact that my dead wouldn't be a bloody one... though drowning was certainly an unpleasant and painful way to go too. I shuddered.

I didn't know how long I was floating in the water but probably for long as my hands were starting to cramp up and biting cold was cursing through my whole body.

"If you are somewhere out there, Prince in shining armor and on the white horse, now is the best time to appear," I whispered without any heat in it. I was too tired to fully articulate.

The panic was starting to crept onto me, even though I was attempting to suppress it.

I was taking short frantic breaths; tears were flowing tirelessly from my eyes as tremors shook my whole body.

 _I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't... want... to... die...please... please somebody... helphelphelphelp-_

Suddenly on the edge of my shortened range of Haki (that I was taught to have activate even in my sleep) ship appeared. There wasn't a lot of people on it for it to be marine or even normal ship, but I didn't care. There was still hope for me. And I wanted to live even if I had to sell my soul to the devil.

I weakly waved to bring their attention to me, however I didn't know if I achieved that as in that moment my limbs failed on me. I renewed my efforts to stay upright, because hell no, I refused to die, when I was so close to being saved.

My struggle proved to be futile though as few seconds later I couldn't hold my head above the water anymore and I started to descend into the murky depths of the sea.

I stretched my hand towards steadily receding surface through which I saw baby blue sky that looked like it was mocking me with its pureness.

I was distantly aware that my lungs were starting to hurt. It would be so easy to breathe in the water now, however I stubbornly held onto the hope that the ship roused in me. Someone will come, someone will save me. I was sure of it.

However as seconds ticked away, the burning of my lungs increased and my conscience started to fade away, it was harder and harder to clutch onto that hope.

Just as I felt my body to give up, someone ruptured the stillness around me and started to quickly approach me. My sight was blurred, but I made out a black clothes that the person was wearing.

 _'Is that a Grim Reaper?_ ' was my last thought as my consciousness completely slipped from my grasps.

* * *

Explanation of a title:

Ivory tower - A sheltered, overly-academic existence or perspective, implying a disconnection or lack of awareness of reality or practical considerations.

I choose this title because Kiaria-chan here is a little... naive as I implied in the chapter, she is aware that world is not black and white, but she still categories pirates as bad and marines as good, same with her dislike of blood and hurting in general, she will need to have a few wake up calls to be more... practical and let's say realistic.

And about her name, it's Japanese and it means "fortunate"... well let's see how lucky she will be onwards with me as writer.

Well then... I would like to know what you liked/disliked about the chapter, so if you have something to say review or PM me if you want.


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry for the long wait~ I just wasn't satisfied with what I written... I'll just post this version or I'll never post it. XD

Thank you all who favorited/followed/reviewed. Answers to reviews are down.

And yes... I am aware that what happened in this chapter is kinda cliché, but I tried to made it a little more original and let's say.. . realistic... as realistic a One piece fanfiction can be anyway.

* * *

 _I woke up._

And it came with a feeling of air blowing onto my face. I could finally breathe. However to breathe I needed to get rid of a water in my lungs. Someone turned me on my side so that I could cough water out more easily.

 _I was alive._

Everything hurt. I felt weak and nauseous. I was wet and so cold but... I was alive. I let first tears of fall as I continued to splutter water.

 _Someone came._

 _Someone saved me._

 _I was alive._

I was so, so happy. Nearly dying really put everything to perspective.

With my senses slowly kicking up from their slumber I started to 'feel' around me with Haki. My sense was sloppy at best but after few seconds I had a rough image of where I was and how many people were around me.

I was on a ship - that much I could have put together even without my Haki senses, really. There was someone right beside me, rubbing my back awkwardly. Other six to eight people (I was in no state to reliably count) were surrounding us in a tight circle.

Grateful smile blossomed on my face, any shame I could feel at being seen in such a pitiful state by strangers was put into back of my mind - they were probably the ones that saved me and all I could feel at the moment was pure gratitude.

I sluggishly moved my hands to place them on the hard wood of a deck. Then even though my whole body shook from exhaustion and cold I slowly started to raise my body upright.

"Aah! Don't move yet!"

My sudden efforts flustered the person behind me and he tried to push me down to lying position. I wasn't deterred though; I wanted to properly express my gratitude. After few failed attempts I accomplished what I wanted.

With my upper body more or less upright I slowly turned around to face the one who was rubbing my back before. My sight was blurry but I saw that he was a lot bigger than me and dressed in a clothes made out of fur.

I had a lot in my mind. I had a lot I wanted to say. But words failed me in that moment, so I let my actions speak for myself.

I sprung on him (at least I guessed it was a he). He released a high pitched squeak at that and tried to wiggle out of my surprisingly strong grip. I was pretty surprised I still had so much strength in me.

Tears were now falling with more vigor as I sniffed into the fur-like clothes.

Seeing the state I was in, the poor soul stopped his wiggling. Instead he sagged in my arms and hesitantly patted my back. He probably felt sorry for me and didn't have it in him to escape my grasps.

Wave of familiarity flew through me at this awkward hug. It reminded me of the times I woke up from a bad dream and grandma was there to lull me back to sleep with a hug and lullaby. It was these memories that broke the knot on my tongue and I started to babble between loud sniffles.

"Thank you- I don't- thank you-oh god -I am alive-thank you-I just-thank you so so much- this is unbelievable- sorry for this - thankyouthankyouthankyou-"

With all my energy spent on crying and holding onto the man like my life depended on it, it really was no wonder that I fell unconscious again.

####

When I woke up next, it was in a soft bed.

I blinked few times at the unfamiliar ceiling as I thought back on what I remembered. From that I more or less gathered my situation.

Several hours probably already passed and by now they had to realize I was not on board. They probably didn't even try to look for me - guessing that I already drowned. That wasn't such a bad guess as exactly that would have happened if my saviors didn't appear in time.

I shuddered when my thoughts wandered towards my time in water.

Now that I was safe and my brain was more or less functioning my near-death hit me hard.

I was aware of dangers marine profession held, but it always was just a thought in the back of my mind, the real possibility of _ME_ dying early was just so bizarre. I mean I didn't even take part in fights therefore how could I die? I certainly didn't expect a Mother Nature to be my downfall.

It really did show how frail a life was. Dying because of a stupid slip. But then when I think about it weren't most deaths caused because of mistakes and lapses in attention?

I scrunched my face in discomfort. I really didn't want to think about that now. Later when I was in bed ... in _my_ bed and home - smothered in blankets, surrounded by pillows and sensing that the only person in the house was grandma in the kitchen, cooking my favorite apple pie...then maybe then would be time to have such thoughts, maybe they wouldn't be so depressing once I thought over them in peace?

'Aaaw hell. Now I was home-sick even more.'

Okay this self-pity needed to stop. Back on track and let's think about matters on hand. So, they probably deduced that I was dead and it would be just my luck that they managed to already contact grandma.

Great...

She would sooo kill me...

I needed to call her fast. The more time it will take, the more violent her wrath will be.

I hope that this ship had a Den Den Mushi... through I wasn't too hopeful. What with the small size of the ship and only seven people on board... weird. How did they survive on Grand Line with only seven people?

I tilted my head as I observed their behaviors. They were talking with each other, one of them pointing to the room I was in. They were probably deciding what to do with me.

I sighed. My head started to throb when I thought about what was to come.

The best scenario would be that they owned a Den Den Mushi and after I explained my situation to them, they let me use it and all will end well with me being fetched by some marine ship that would be near.

The worst... well there were a lot of bad ways this situation can end in.

Well hope for the best but expect worst, right?

With that in mind I slowly roused my upper body and sat upright just as the group started to move towards the room I was in. I wanted to look more... presentable if you could call me that in the attire I just noticed I was wearing.

I was clothed in pink nightgown(?) that was too loose in... chest area (What the hell?! I was not flat... so from where came this sudden feeling of defeat?!). Now I didn't have anything against pink- it was okay color I supposed, it has nothing on green but I didn't hate it like most of my female colleagues who hated anything 'girly', but let's be honest – it was not the best color to wear when you were in serious situation.

Well I supposed it still was better than if I stayed in wet clothes - I didn't need to catch a cold on top of everything else, thank you very much.

I was more or less successful in sitting - I was upright okay, just a little slouched... all etiquette principles, that were hammered into me, were screaming to straighten up, but I couldn't care less. My whole body was stiff, my muscles jelly-like and now that I thought about it I was hungry - like I could-eat-anything-that-wasn't-poisoned kind of hungry. Gosh, I hope my stomach will not let itself known when the owners of this ship arrived. That would certainly made for an awkward situation.

I checked where the group was - near but still far enough for me to mentally prepare myself.

Okay. Deep breath.

I just had to calmly explain what happened and my solution. They couldn't be bad people if they saved me...

Yes, just smile and -

 _The door opened_.

My strained smile fell at the sight them, panic flooded my system.

Now I've never was in direct contact with pirates after that one time, but I made sure to get a good look at new bounties, just to get a picture of pirates that were roaming around the word and sometimes I caught a glimpse of the old ones in newspapers or in superior's offices.

Point is even I, who was a little disconnected from the word outside of her little bubble, could recognize Devil Child - even though she was adult now and not a child anymore.

My face lost that little color it accumulated during sleep and cold sweat started to gather at my temples.

O-okay - this... this certainly was something I didn't imagine even in my most disastrous dreams.

'And of course that isn't all...' I thought in despair when I noticed a straw-hat sitting on a head of widely smiling boy.

Of course... I _had_ to be fished out by a rookie pirate crew we were sent to apprehend. And Nico Robin - can't let her go forgotten. Hahaha… Just my luck. I was starting to seriously question the naming sense of whoever named me - I was clearly so not fortunate.

I jerked when someone stepped forward from the assembled group. It was woman with bright orange hair and hard look in her brown eyes.

"If you don't mind, we have some questions that we want to ask, now that you woke up," her sharp tone was like a whiplash to my already frayed nerves. Without me wanting it, my bottom lip started to tremble and tears gathered at the corners of my eyes. I was so not coping with the situation I was in.

Yes, I was a marine and we were supposed to be mentally stronger than civilians, but that was only in theory. I knew a lot of people who gone mad because they couldn't handle pressure, survival's guilt, or other horrors that came with this job…. to this day I didn't know how _I_ would fare when the time came… guess I was in the weak category, huh?

Few hours ago (or was it days, how long was I out of it?) I nearly drowned and now I will be tortured, for information that I definitely didn't know, and killed after they realized that I was useless. And just as a hope of peacefully ending this little adventure of mine appeared…

 _Damn it._

"Tsk. Is she gonna cry again? What a wuss."

"Shut up, marimo. Don't insult a lady!"

"Haah? I can insult anyone I want. Do you w-"

"Shut up - both of you. Now's not a time. Though I do wonder what I said to make her cry. I didn't say anything bad, did I? "

"Uh Nami... I hate to say it. But you can look quite scary sometimes."

"What was that?!"

"Eeep."

I observed the bickering group with distrust in my eyes, no longer at the verge of tears. Instead I tried to compose myself, the words of a green haired guy resonating through my head. I didn't want to be called wuss… even if it was true to some extent. That however didn't mean it was pleasant to be called that. It stung quite a lot if I was being honest.

My efforts were for naught though as somebody suddenly pushed his face _RightInFrontOfMine._

I screeched and jumped back in shock/fright and in the process hit my head against the wooden wall.

"Oow," I groaned weakly and gently nursed the back of my head. My hand didn't came across any blood, so I was calmed a little, didn't mean that it didn't hurt like hell though.

"Shishishi, she is so weird," the boy who frightened me started to laugh. My cheeks reddened in embarrassment. I bowed my head to let my hair cover my tomato-red face.

Well… I already made quite clear that I was not a threat to them with this. It was better like that, I suppose… There was no need to let my nonexistent pride made this situation worse. Maybe they will let me go if I looked miserable enough? Not very probable, but one can only hope, huh?

I sighed hopelessly and turned to look at the girl that was speaking to me before.

"Um... I don't know what you want to ask, but I am only low-rank officer... so I don't have any information that could interest you... s-so can you not t-torture me? Please?" I tried to speak in a soft, polite tone but it was destroyed at the end with stutter and my words resembled more begging than anything else… hooh… Okay, this was absurd. Hold some dignity woman.

"Torture?"

"Huh? What is she talking about?'

"Is she stupid?"

"Marimo!"

"Geeez. Calm down. We will not hurt you," was the answer of a woman I was looking at. She looked exasperated, with what exactly I wasn't sure, though I wasn't too keen on finding that out. I was more interest in what she said.

They will not? Cold dread passed through me. Did... did they plan to sell me?

Seeing my panicked state she rolled her eyes but softened her glare a bit. She then walked to my left and sat herself on a chair placed beside the bed.

"And we will not do anything similar to what you seem to think," she paused to let me digest her words. They did calm me down a bit, but my distrust didn't lessen,"We just want to know why there was a marine swimming in the middle of a sea."

Oh... that made sense. I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell them - they did save me, even if their motive for doing so was still unknown to me.

"I fell from the ship I was working on..." I said softly, feeling stupid when I admited it out loud. It was pretty lame and considering that incredulousness grew on their faces, they thought so too.

"You fell..?"

The awkward silence that fell over the room after that inquiry made me feel the need to defend myself.

"Y-yeah. I was about to go down from the Crown's nest and ship suddenly jerked... The sea was all calm too, so what the hell? ... It was accident, okay? It could happen to anybody, right? Right!"

My efforts were rewarded by awkward pat on a shoulder by the long-nosed member of the pirate crew. His words of consolation didn't make me feel better, not one bit.

"Of course it could..."

Being comforted by a pirate... Oh sweet potatoes, where did I go wrong in life?!

####

After my awkward explanation silence fell over the room.

Well I say that silence has fallen, but with how noisy this bunch seemed to be, they weren't able to stay quiet for long.

Right now some of them were few steps away from bed and whispering between themselves. The boy with straw-hat was laying in the corner and... was he a reindeer? He had antlers, so probably? This was Grand Line, so that wouldn't be so surprising. Well then, the reindeer was asking me how I was feeling.

I answered truthfully, figuring that he was a doctor of the ship. I didn't stop to wonder why talking reindeer was a doctor, too tired to care. It could be easily explained with Akuma no Mi. Those fruits could cause the weirdest things.

I was feeling better than before and I figured that they wouldn't kill me so soon after fishing me out. It would be dumb to do save me and kill me the next moment. That however didn't made me any less vary of them. Quite on the contrary if I was being honest. Who ever heard about pirates saving marines and not wanting anything in return? It just didn't happen.

Therefore when the noise from the group subdued and _Nico Robin_ stepped forward I, understandably of course, started to sweat bullets again. This was the woman who managed to evade marines since she was only, what, seven? Eight? Point was: you don't mess with this woman. At least not if you don't have a death wish.

"I understand that this is quite stressful situation for you, Miss Marine. However before we could decide what to do, we still need few things to be clarified," she paused to give me time to process her words. I nodded uncertainly, "Thank you for your co-operation. Now, to start with something that was strange from the start. It is quite a lucky coincidence that you were drowning just as we were sailing around. How can we be sure that you weren't send here to arrest us?"

I gave her a blank look. Me... arresting them? ... forgive me now as I will do something out of character here.

I snorted.

Then I broke into hysterical laughter that caused other occupants of the room to take step back and look at me as if I lost my sense.

I probably did. Really, I knew that they didn't know me personally, however they did saw how pathetic I looked just few minutes ago and surely they couldn't think that I was THAT good of an actor, to pull that off with acting. Or maybe they did. Was that what they were thinking? I probably should straighten that up or they would kill me on the spot.

Sobering up from that though, my laughter died and instead I started coughing, thanks to a poorly swallowed saliva. Blood rushed into my cheeks as I tried to get enough oxygen into my lungs. In the end I had to be hit hard on the back by the small doctor so that I don't die from not taking enough air in.

I was really giving a good first impression, wasn't I?

I fought down another blush as I certainly didn't need it now, when those pirates were waiting for my answer with amused expressions.

I took deep breath and started talking.

"Sorry for that... I just... well do you really think that somebody like me would be sent on such a mission? I think you can pretty easily see that I am not a good material for that," I nervously smiled, hoping that they indeed saw that I wasn't faking anything.

"You could very well be just an excellent actor," Nico Robin pointed out.

Well here were the doubts I was waiting for, okay. I shrugged helplessly because really what can I say to make them believe me?

"I don't really have any way to prove that am not here to arrest you... you will just have to come to your own conclusions...?"

I could burst into tears if would help? Probably not, but hey I was feeling really miserable, so it wouldn't take a lot of effort to become bawling damsel in distress. Grandma would be so mortified if she saw me now.

They exchanged looks and most of them looked deep in thought. The only exceptions were captain, who looked bored and close to running away to do something more entertaining if it wasn't for a orange-headed woman's glare that froze him on the spot and the other person was a blond haired man who had... a heart? In his one visible eye...

 _What the hell?_

Did he have Akuma no mi? Some kind of laser eye that could sniff out a lie? Eh, probably not as next second he was hit on the head with words 'to be more serious'.

That had to hurt. I thought as I looked at the downed pirate with a bump already forming on his head. My fear of the orange-haired woman started to skyrocket (together with awe, it was pretty badass how she singlehandedly controlled the whole crew, maybe she was hidden threat, the mastermind and straw-hat was just a decoy?).

"What was your crew doing near Alabasta then? You wouldn't be send there without a reason," this time the one who spook was a guy who was in quarrel with heart-in-eye guy before. He... did look like a marimo a bit. I shouldn't probably speak it up loudly though. I wanted to live a little longer if I could help it and he looked like a guy who wouldn't hesitate to slice me in half if I angered him. And as my sense of preservation was high I decided to answer him truthfully and quickly - it wasn't that much a secret where we were headed and what was our target. And from the looks of it we were late anyway.

"Well. We were on our way to aid marines that were stationed here. I suppose... Our objective were you guys as I remember seeing the boy with straw-hat on a poster our captain had in his hand," I hesitantly added the last sentence. They could use my words against me if they so wanted. But the same could occur if I lied to them or told them only half-truth. I was not that good liar to lie in the face of my death. So truth it was.

As I expected some of them straightened at my words and narrowed their eyes.

I slowly raised my hands to show them that I was hardly a threat. I was in a bed, wearing pink T-shirt (that certainly wasn't mine, oh sweet potatoes, who changed me?!), half buried under blankets, my light brown hair were probably a mess without the rubber-band that I lost in the sea. And that was only describing outer my appearance.

I was still stiff as hell and not in any form to fight seven people. I probably wouldn't be able to defeat even one of them.

"So our capture was your goal, huh?" said green haired guy with a glare that could freeze over hell. I died a little inside at being the target of that terrifying glare.

'Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry.'

Seeing my current state the heart-in-eye guy tried to kick the Marimo devil but his leg was stopped inches away by a sword.

"Don't you dare scare this young defenseless lady, you Marimo bastard! It's time to teach you some-" his proclamation was stopped when the hidden-threat (aka orange haired girl) downed both of them in one swift move.

Okay she wasn't just scary, she was downright terrifying. Maybe even more so than that Marimo devil... just maybe, she didn't look at me with such frightening glare as the devil after all.

The heart-guy... Well he did save me from a misery of being stared down by the devil so he certainly shifted from don't-go-close-to-that-creep to I-can-maybe-learn-his-name. Same with doctor and long-nosed guy. Others? Nope, even looking at them was a feat.

I noticed that now, for a change, I was closely observed by Nico Robin... can it be considered as an improvement? I... can't say yes to that.

"What are you going to do now? With us escaping your comrades and your mission clearly failed... you are in the best position to continue it. Will you try to apprehend us? I advise you speak a full truth as quite few of us can detect a lie," she said with even tone.

I gulped. Her emotionless face was unnerving. I cleared my throat to loosen the lump that formed there and turned to face the straw-hat as he was said to be captain and in situation like these it was best to speak to the person with the highest position (and I didn't want to look at Nico Robin more than I had to).

"I am not suicidal... I am aware of the fact that if I were to face you all in the combat I would by completely obliterated" not even speaking about the fact that I wasn't able to fight, "what I plan to do? It's more like what you will do. I just... want to go home..."

My voice was steady for once. I was so proud of myself that I managed to control my emotions so excellently. Though a little bit of desperation cracked into my voice at the end.

I said complete truth too… all I wanted at that moment was grandma's hug.

There was silence after I stopped speaking. I didn't dare to look away from the straw-hat's eyes. He looked like he was thinking about something. Then a smile stretched across his face.

I blinked. Did I say something funny?

"You want to go home? Sure I don't have problem with that! Where are you living? If it's nearby we can sail there!"

I blinked again. And again, for a good measure. Excuse me?

Others shared my sentiment as there were exclamations of bewilderment and eyebrows were raised.

"L-luffy are you sure? She is a marine, you know?!" squeaked long-nosed guy.

"Of course! She is weird but doesn't seem like a bad person. So we will help her!"

"I completely agree! We have to help any lady in distress!"

"Well if Mr. Captain says so..."

"Che. She doesn't seem like a threat anyway," I would have been insulted by the marimo-devil if I didn't completely agree with him.

The doctor, still standing beside me, looked hesitant. But didn't speak up his disagreement/agreement. After he saw me looking at him he offered me a nervous smile that I tried to reciprocate. He was... cute.

Then I turned my eyes at the only one who still didn't offer any insight to her stance at the captain decision.

She was rubbing her forehead and looked like she was in pain. After a while she turned her eyes upwards with resigned expression.

"Okay. Like captain said we will be your ride. But. Under three conditions," she said as she raised three of her fingers. I parted my mouth in surprise.

"First: we will kick you out at the nearest adequate island and you will have to find the way to your hometown from there on your own."

I nodded. I could call grandma once I was on a island and somebody will be dispatched to pick me up after that.

"Second: all of your weapons and other things you had on you will be confiscated until you leave. At the same time if you try something funny, that would cause any of us harm, you will be tossed out. Understand?"

I nodded quickly again, not wanting to anger her.

"And last. You will not be a freeloader. We will give you a place to sleep and food, therefore in exchange you will need to pull your weight. Of course all of your money are ours now, too."

I thought about it. If it would be only chores then I suppose...

I nodded for the last time and slowly extended my hand to her. She appeared surprised by my fast agreement, however soon enough my hand was gripped by hers and a smirk bloomed on her face.

I gulped nervously, suddenly feeling like I just signed my death warrant. She gripped my hand more tightly and pulled me closer to her.

"How are your sewing skills?" she asked, still wearing that worrisome smirk.

"Umm... sufficient?" I answered with trepidation.

"Good."

* * *

 _The end~_

I wanted to continue with chapter, but then I decided to just end here... hope that you enjoy it nevertheless~

Also... do you want me to do fillers and all of the movies? I have one or two films I want to do, but overall I want just follow canon~

 _Reviews:_

 _Dragondancer81 – Thank you for your kind review! I am sorry that you had to wait for so long._

 _Uberch01 – You do? That makes me happy! Though there is still a lot of things I need to improve. _

_kani-leek-lover \- Hello! *waves back*. It was a while, wasn't it? XD Yup, I chose the name because it sounded unique enough as One piece is a little weird with names. Wow! You perfectly understood what I wanted to portray with my writing. I am glad~. Also… traumatic… I don't know about that, but the change will be slow and gradual. Of course, this is One piece and she is currently on a ship with future pirate king, so… some traumatic things are bound to happen. This story takes place just after Alabasta, thus before marineford. And yes! She was saved… as you see in this chapter, by straw-hats… Can you guess who fished her out? I indicated it a little in first chapter…_


	3. Chapter 3

Well... again pretty late, but I tried to write faster this time.

Also this chapter is so BAD, so bad... I really dislike it. I think I am losing my ability to write... TT_TT

Fuu in this one nothing really happens as it's just about how Kiaria takes on this new experience of living with pirates... I wanted to write more scenes but I didn't know how to incorporate them... and even what I managed to write sounds so forced... ugh, this is so hard. I should have stayed with only one fanffiction.

Just to inform, next chapter will be movie 4 - Dead End Adventure... I think this will be the only 'non cannon' arc before Jaya. I didn't really saw other fillers or movie 5, so I don't really wanna do them... but if you want, I can try?

* * *

' _I don't know how I should feel about this,'_ I thought with sweat-drop.

I, Marine Petty Officer Kiaria, was in the situation where I was being forced to fix pirate's clothes...

What the heck?!

I know. I know. I could have ended worse, like killed for example, but stil... what was with this situation? Was this normal? I didn't think so... but hey, I wasn't the most informed individual.

I groaned and stretched my stiff body as much as I could while still sitting on the bed.

The doctor (he introduced himself as Chopper) mentioned that I would feel tired and stiff for a few days as my body experienced quite a shock by my near-drowning episode, but he said that I shouldn't have any lasting problems. Or at least physically...

Psychically... well... I guess I will see later. I certainly hoped that I didn't develop another phobia. It was already bad that I was a marine that was afraid of heights and was squeamish around blood. Fearing water? Marine? Gosh, that would be sooo embarrassing.

I sighed as put away a shirt I was currently fixing. I rubbed my eyes and then slapped myself lightly on both cheeks.

Don't think about it! I was still alive and as long as I was alive; there were things I could do. And maybe, because of this 'incident' they will finally realize that I wasn't cut out to be a marine and once that happened... I could finally try to find my own path. Surely, grandma will understand! (after she will nearly kill me for making her worry so much)

Well there was this one very big _'if'_ – there was no guarantee that those pirates would really let me go, as they promised. Sure they didn't appear to be bad people, but they were _pirates..._ why would anybody voluntarily become pirate if they weren't evil? They didn't look like they were forced to do it...

Aaaah! I don't care anymore. If they will really throw me out on the nearest island, then I won't see them ever again. They would be just some pirates I once met... and didn't try to capture... oh god, I hope nobody would find out that pirates were the ones who fished me out.

Knock interrupted me from my thoughts; I was only happy for that, to tell the truth. I straightened up in the bed as I called for the person behind the doors to enter.

I tilted my head when the blonde guy from before entered with a... trail... of... food. My empty stomach instantly spoke up when my nose registered a very alluring scent. I turned bright red when rumble echoed through the room. The blonde man froze in the doorway.

"I – eh- this," I tried to speak up, feeling too flustered to construct proper sentences. My stuttering was soon stopped though, when the man suddenly rushed to my side.

"My beautiful lady, I am truly sorry that I was so slow in preparing this food for you! To be a cause that made lady feel such excruciating pain… I am truly regretful. Here, please eat this quickly." He placed the trail on my lap that was covered by blanket. I widened my eyes when I saw what was on it. I've never saw such tasteful looking meal! It was so colorful…so charming… so … so… I lost my words.

I turned my shocked gaze at the cook before me. He prepared all of this for me?! I… I can't even doubt him and think it was poisoned, because surely, there was nobody cruel enough to spoil such wonderful looking meal. And the sweet smell… was I in heaven?

"Please, don't be hesitant to eat it! I made it with my utmost love!" exclaimed the man proudly as he sat on a chair next to the bed with bright eyes. As I was given a go ahead, I picked fork and carefully scooped up a little bit of food with it. I was very cautions, I didn't want to destroy the overall beautiful appearance of the feast.

I took in my first bite and then… fireworks exploded in my head. Tears of happiness gathered in my eyes as I instantly started to stuff my face in very un-lady like manner. After only few minutes my plate was empty. I turned towards the cook with starstruck eyes.

"You... you said you made it?" I asked slowly. He had hearts in his eyes again and was squirming strangely; however I didn't pay attention to that in that moment. This was just... Woooa.

"Yes! Was it to your liking, my lady?"

"It was delicious!" I exclaimed. Then I reached for his hand which I squeezed in a death-like grip, I felt him froze under my touch again. I neared him and in grim voice I asked him,: "Is there more?"

"Ha- Ha... O-Of course there is, Milady!" he stuttered out as small drops of blood started to descent from his nose. I felt concerned and I was about to ask what was wrong, but before I could he grabbed the tray and ran away with short 'Be right back'.

It would be understatement if I said that he was _quickly_ back as in few seconds I had another plate filled with food before me. Without a prompt I started to eat again.

xXxXxXx

"Haaa... I am full," I declared, feeling extremely satisfied. I patted my stomach with a content sigh. Then I was about to lie down and rest a bit, but I realized that I wasn't exactly alone. My cheeks reddened a bit (I was sure I was quite a sight), but still, I felt very thankful for the food he prepared. I smiled and bowed him slightly.

"Thank you for the food cook-san!" I said gratefully. I probably should be ashamed of myself that I was thanking a pirate, but... the food was _so good_ and I _did_ eat a lot.

"Aaaaah~~~ don't thank me! Something like preparing a food for beautiful lady is natural! I am glad to help you in this way. And please, call me Sanji!" he exclaimed earnestly. I blushed lighly at the compliment. His enthusiasm was alarming a little, but I didn't question it. Whoever gave me such delicious food was okay in my books, however weirdly he behaved.

"Okay then, Sanji-san. If you want, you can call me Kiaria…" I responded before I could stop myself. Aaaawaawawaaa! I shouldn't be so buddy-buddy with a pirate!

"I-I can? Such honor! Okay then Kiaria-san!" He started to dance funnily. Before I could stop myself I started to giggle at his antic. He stopped his dance and placed his hand on his chest, where his heart was.

"Such… such angelic laugh… my heart," he mumbled dreamily. I didn't know if I should sweat-drop or continue to laugh.

Fortunately, my choice was taken from me when door opened again. The one who opened it was a long-nosed boy. He looked at Sanji who looked close to passing now and did a big face-palm. Once he took down his hand he shook his hand and started to speak.

"Oy Sanji, Luffy is trying to steal food from the fringe again." I tilted my head. Luffy? Did he mean Monkey D. Luffy? Why would he steal food on his own ship?

"WHAAAT!" The cook didn't look surprised, though. He looked enraged and before I could even blink, he was out of the door. I assumed he ran towards his captain.

"Again? Was this normal?" I asked rhetorically in quiet voice; however I noticed that it was hearable enough for the boy, as he turned my head and nodded tiredly.

"Yeah. He always does it. His stomach is endless pit," he answered my question in a voice that sounded so done, that I felt a little sorry for him. And I guess for Sanji too, if this was common occurrence.

"Anyway! Chopper said that you should stretch your legs once you've eaten. He sent me here to help you if you had any difficulties in standing up or walking. He would do it himself, but he is busy preparing medicine that should help you to gain strength faster." Long-nosed boy started to move towards me, he looked a little nervous, as if he was unsure of my reaction.

I stared at him mutely. He was there to help me? And the reindeer was making me a medicine? What the hell… what was with these pirates…? They were totally throwing me of. I… I was grateful but I couldn't help but to be suspicious.

I set blanket away as I sit up at the edge of the bed. Thankfully, I managed to change into my clothes earlier that day. I certainly wouldn't want to prance around the pirate ship in only pink nightgown.

Once sitting, I carefully moved all my joints and stretched my limbs. During that time the boy was standing few steps away, giving me space. I huffed tiredly when I was done and turned to face the long-nose guy.

"So… Where I am allowed to go?" I asked neutrally. He looked startled by my question and he started to scratch his long nose in thought.

"Well… I think you can go practically anywhere? We don't have any off-limits places. As long as you won't go through our personal belongings and you wouldn't' try to steal things, I am sure there won't be any problems," he ended up saying. I nodded to express that I understood. I took deep breathe to calm myself.

Then I stood up and tried to take my first step in a while.

And nearly ended falling down on my ass when my knees gave up on me. The only thing that stopped my meeting with the floor were arms of the long-nosed boy that 'embraced' me from behind. We both stiffened when we realized what happened and I slowly turned my head to look into his face.

I am pretty sure we both had same mortified look on our faces at that moment.

I coughed awkwardly and said soft "Sorry" that was instantly echoed by the boy as he hurriedly stepped away from me. Though he stayed an arm reach away in case I needed to be caught again.

Feeling extremely embarrassed I glared at my uncooperative legs. Wiling them to work properly. I straightened up and did one small step forward.

I was successful this time. I would have whooped in joy, but I didn't want to jinx myself. Therefore I just smiled and continued to do small steps towards the door. Only once I managed to get through the doors (without falling down - must be emphasized), did I allow myself to whoop in joy. The boy stepped next me with a smile on his face.

"Good job… em… uh… what is your name anyway? I am Usopp! The bravest man of the sea and the real captain of this ship!" he exclaimed proudly. I jolted away from him at his proclamation. What. What. What. What. What. Real captain?! You mean straw-hat wasn't captain? This guy was? Wait, wait a minute! This revelation was too sudden!

I continued to shuffle away from him with wide eyes. He noticed my change of attitude instantly and his smile fell off his face as he raised his hands in 'peaceful' manner.

"Uh… wait… I was only-" His sentence was interrupted mid-way when he was hit on the head by orange-haired girl. I gulped. Great, now I had another person to worry about.

"What kind of nonsense are you spewing now, Usopp?!" yelled the girl at the cowed male.

I tilted my head. Nonsense… Was he lying about being captain? I furrowed my brows. Why would he do that? Captain was the strongest person on the ship, the one enemy always attacked first, the one who others in the ship looked up to and who gave them orders - nobody dared to question that person. He would lie about something like this, so easily?

"I was just joking! Joking!" was the excuse of the male as he tried to protect his head against 'attacks' of the girl.

So he did lie... joking about being captain of a pirate ship and still being alive... I don't know if I should be scared of this guy or question what were the motives of the captain that he let him live even after this insubordination. Maybe he was too valuable to kill? I looked critically at the black haired male. He didn't look like much.

"Haa… Good grief. These boys will be the death of me." The orange-haired girl ruffled her head in aggravation and then turned to face me. I straightened and noticed that with me being lost in my thoughts I didn't catch what was talked about. I seriously regretted this now as the long-nosed male... Usopp I guess... was walking away with several bums on his head. And I was let alone on the deck with orange-haired girl as my only company.

"Um… "I tried to speak up, but then realized I didn't really know what to say. The woman looked me from up to down, her eyes narrowing in distaste. I suddenly felt really self-conscious about my attire.

I was wearing standard marine uniform (without cap though – those things were uncomfortable) that was composed of long blue trousers, white T-shirt without sleeves, blue scarf and blue-white jacket. I didn't alter my uniform as I quite liked those clothes. They were comfortable and easy to move around, though in this situation… they were bad as they were just screaming 'I am marine'.

I bit my lower lip nervously as I fiddled with the hem of my half-opened jacket. I snapped my head to the girl, though, when she started to move my way. I observed her every move as she stopped around two steps before me with an annoyed expression.

"Geez, calm down. We already know you are a marine, though I guess I would need to lend you some of my clothes… you can't wear one outfit for who knows how long." I blinked repeatedly in surprise when I processed her words. She would let me borrow her clothes? The girl started to circle me with thoughtful expression on her face.

"Hmmm. I think my skirts should fit you..." seeing my horrified look, she added, "I have shorts too, don't worry." I sighed in relief. I was not type to wear skirts or dresses. They were too loose for my tastes.

"However… I think there will be problem with shirts," she mused with tilted head when she stopped before me, looking right at my chest. I looked from my chest area to hers…

I blushed. Yeah, I could see where she was going from. The difference between our sizes was too big. No wonder the 'nightgown' was so big on me.

Ugh, this just wasn't fair! I had normal sized breasts! Hers were just abnormal! Haa... this was killing my already small self-esteem.

"Robin's shirts are out of the question, too," she added as an afterthought. I felt another crushing wave of defeat.

"I guess you will just have to wear something from boys then," the look I sent her had to be something as she hurried to explain, "I didn't mean it like that. Yours aren't that that small! They are totally normal! I just think it would be more comfortable for you if you wear their clothes! Haha..." she ended her words with awkward laugh. I totally didn't buy her words. Noticing that she scratched her cheek uneasily and decided rather to continue speaking.

"I suppose Luffy and Usopp are out of question as they are too skinny and their clothes would be too tight for you. Zoro is very muscular and has broad shoulders so his shirts would probably be too big for you, but he wears his shirts opened, so I can't be too sure. You can try them on and you see, I guess. Sanji is probably the best choice as while he is pretty slim too, he has some muscles and his shirts should fit you in theory... at least they would better than mine. And there is an added bonus that he won't protest against you wearing his clothes, like Zoro no doubt would. He would be over the moon when you ask for them and he wouldn't want them back."

I looked at her in muted horror. Me... ask a man for his clothes? That would be very rude! And... Zoro... I visualized in my head pirates whose names I knew... was he that glaring green-haired man?! No way! I won't ever go near him! He was too scary...

Seeing my panicked expression she chuckled amusedly and shook her head.

"I suppose the choice is up to you. You can try to wear my clothes, if you want." I nodded hurriedly, not passing up this chance.

"Okay, I will lend you some later. Now, I'll show you around and tell what is off limits for you. Usopp would have screwed that up if I let him to that." I nodded again, that made sense. It would be strange if I really could go whenever I wanted.

"Come with me then. Oh and the name is Nami, by the way," she said as she started walk away. I went after here in my slow pace, thankfull that she wasn't moving too fast. She probably adjusted her pace to the slow one because of me.

"I am Kiaria…" I said back quietly. She waved to let me know she heard it.

xXxXxXx

Our stroll was very short thanks to the ship being pretty small.

First I was showed kitchen. We found Sanji there, who greeted us enthusiastically. I sent him an awkward wave. Nami just ignored him and instead told me that as long as I wouldn't try to secretly steal food, I could be there whenever I wanted. It was followed by Sanji's cheerful offer of preparing me any food I wanted, no matter the time of the day. I was asked for my preferences of food, too, and if there was something I was allergic to. I didn't mind anything as long as there weren't any nuts in it - I was very allergic to them.

I was told that the kitchen room was used as a Meeting Room, Lounge, and Helm, too... Their ship was really small.

Next was crown's nest on which I refused to go – my fall still fresh in my mind. Nami patted me on a shoulder in comfort and only told me that I could usually find there either Zoro (sleeping) or at night others when they had a watch.

She didn't need to show me the room I was sleeping in before, she only told me that it was women's room and that I should expect to be kicked out of _her bed_ when I fully recover. I nodded sheepishly, embarrassed that I was using her bed like that.

Thus we moved towards storage room where all cargo such as beer barrels, water barrels, rations, medical supplies and such were placed. In short – typical storage. There were also really big locked boxes too, and it didn't take a genius to guess that money and other valuable things were placed in there. My belongings were probably there, too. In the room were two cannons facing each side of the ship.

Next room she showed me was bathroom, as it was right next to the storage room.

Nothing abnormal there, except that it would need good scrub there and here. Nami said that it would be my next job after I fix all clothes. Yay, I can't wait… really…

I was only warned to be carefully there with water and that after I use the bath or a shower I must thoroughly clean the place up with a rubber wiper in to prevent the ship from being weakened by moisture.

After that we went into 'Men's room'. Or to be more precise – into big messy room full of hanging hammock and few built in wardrobes.

The room was occupied by Dr. Chopper at that moment, who was instantly at my side to ask how I was feeling. He looked so cute fussing around me that I couldn't help but to smile when I answered him. In the end I asked if I could pat him on the head. He started to do weird dance thingy but in the end allowed me to pat him. I stubbornly ignored Nami's amused smile.

Last room was 'weaponry' and anchor room. In truth it was just glorified storage room. This room mainly served as the room where the anchor was stored. Then there were weapons such as guns and swords (that I had prohibited to touch) and other things like oars, life-saving vest, etc.

After we were done with the whole 'showing around' we walked back onto the deck. During our walk I learned a lot about this ship and about the pirates who were on it... it made me wonder, how could they reveal all of it to me so easily? What they were planning to do, by showing me that? Was this their way of telling me I was insignificant and they didn't have to worry about what I would do? … that was probably the case. Uh, that made feel so much worse.

"So, that would be all. Just don't steal food, don't touch things that are ours, don't try to sit on Merry's head – it's captain personal seat – don't disturb Zoro when he is training or sleeping and...I think that's all? You can always be informed later... hmmm."

I let her think as I looked around the deck of 'Going Merry' – as was a ship called, supposedly – I instantly twisted my head away when I saw green-haired male sleeping few feets from us. I was too afraid to even look at him. What if that would wake him up?! Nope, not wanna for that to happen.

When I turned my head, my gaze fell on the roof of kitchen and... there was a garden! Why didn't I've noticed that before?!

"You have garden, too?!" I asked excitedly. Nami nodded and looked at me with thoughtful expression.

"Yes we have... Chopper has some of his herbs there... and I have Tangerine trees. Why? Is there a problem with it?" she asked carefully. I turned to look at her with awed expression. Tangerines?! I've never saw their trees!

"Can I... can I..." I tried to ask if I could take care of their garden, too, but I couldn't find the right words.

"No." was the instant answer and I slumped dejectedly

"I guess that's expected... you wouldn't want your enemy to take care of something you will eat later," I mumbled gloomily

"What? No... that's... I thought you wanted to eat... But... Ah, I see." The woman next to me looked confused by my words I tilted my head, what was she talking about? I just wanted to have some sort of resemblance of normalcy... I just... I just...

"I am sorry, that I asked," I whispered and was about to go back to my room, however a hand on my shoulder stopped me before I could ever do one step in that direction.

"No... It's okay. I just misunderstood. You want to take care of our garden, right?" I nodded at her question. "Then I don't see a problem with it. Though I and Chopper will need to make sure you know what you are doing."

"You... really? I could? Really? Really?" I couldn't believe my ears. They would let my take care of those trees and herbs?

"Yep. Really." She smiled and I might have hugged her at that moment if I didn't notice that another woman was coming our way. Cold sweat gathered at my temples as I saw Nico Robin nearing us slowly. Sensing the change in my attitude, Nami turned around to look what made me so anxious. Soft "Oh" escaping her when she saw the older woman.

"Hello Miss Navigator," greeted the frightening woman when she was few steps from us, Nami greeted her back politely. Then once these two greeted, the attention of black-haired woman fallen on me and with her ever polite smile present, she greeted me too," And hello to you too Miss Marine."

I mumbled back something that could maybe resemble "Hello" if one would close both of his eyes enough.

"Are you done with showing here around?" asked Nico Robin a question, aiming it at my 'guide'.

"Yes. I was just thinking about finding you, actually," answered the other woman with satisfied smile.

"Is that so? I don't see how I can be of any help as I am sure Miss Marine here would rather not be in my presence more than was necessarily." I froze when I heard words of the older woman. I wasn't trying to be inconspicuous with my fear towards the woman, but still... to be called out like that...

"Yeah. That too. I wanted to address that too. You!" The orange-haired woman suddenly turned towards me, with annoyed look on her face. I jumped in alarm when her attention was on me.

"Sheesh. Stop with those jumpy reactions! I mean, I can understand your situation and how you feel. Being on enemy grounds without knowing anyone there, must be pretty hard on you. However, it's not exactly easy for us either. We have one lone marine between us, whose reason of sudden appearance we still pretty sketchy. For all we know you can be here to kill us. But are we trying to make this situation hard for you by being constantly nervous around you? No, we don't!" She paused for a moment to take more air in after her speech. However she wasn't done, not be a long shot. I continued to looked at her with wide eyes.

"You will be here for some time, considering that islands are around two weeks away from each other. We were the considerate ones who promised to be your ride and who saved you. You owe us your life and more, therefore the least you could do, is to be civil with us and not look like we would bite your head off any moment now!" she ended indignantly, huffing tiredly after speaking so much.

I looked at her in silent shock. Was I... was I really behaving like that? I couldn't help it though! They were pirates! And I was a marine... of course I would be wary!

But they were only nice to me to this moment; saving me, promising to give me a ride, helping me recover, feeding me, giving me a hand when I nearly fell, showing me around...

I… I still didn't know what to feel about this weird bunch… but they never did something to me that would harm me. They even made sure to know my allergies and to warn me against dangerous parts of the ship.

They give me so much and all they wanted in exchange were various odd jobs here and there and for me to be civil.

That wasn't much, was it?

I could give them a chance... that, that wouldn't hurt, right? Right?

A soft noise disrupted me from my thoughts. I turned to look at the source of the sound. To my surprise I saw Nico Robin holding her hand before her mouth, _giggling._ I blinked in surprise.

"Haha. Miss Navigator. The look on your face now could lead one to believe that you want to bite off her head at this moment," she said lightly.

"Robin! I was being serious…" Nami turned slightly towards the older woman, sending her an irritated look.

Before Robin could say anything back, I made sure to interrupt. Seeing the feared criminal so carefree... It made me decide.

I coughed lightly to get their attention, and then I bowed deeply to them both of. I lifted my head slightly after few seconds and catching Nami's eyes in my own ones I started to speak.

"I am sorry that I treated you so poorly. I didn't see... I wasn't able to see past my own prejudiced views. Thank you for opening my eyes, Nami-san. I hope you can forgive my behavior to this moment," I said, feeling very chagrined. Once I said what I wanted towards to the navigator, I then clashed my gaze with deep, cold orbs of an assassin. I hesitated a bit, but remembering that even someone like her was still a human being, I took a deep breath and spoke to her.

"And... I am sorry to you, too, Robin-san. My attitude towards you was uncalled for."

Both women didn't say anything for a bit, however after around a minute, Nico Robin started to giggle again and Nami face-palmed. I blinked in confusion, did I do something bad?

"I said to behave civil, but you don't have to be so formal. Good grief, what did I cause..." mumbled the face-palming girl. Then she sent me _a look_ that made me straighten up and salute. Realizing what I did seconds too late, I sheepishly put down my hand. I scratched my cheek nervously and said a hesitant "Yes?".

"Now...that this is out of the way. Let's go to the main reason I wanted to find you, Robin. Kiaria here doesn't have any clothes except the ones she is wearingr Do you have any spares you can lend her?" Oh yeah, I nearly forgot this. I looked at the black-haired woman, too.

"I have... but I am afraid they wouldn't fit her." Woa, I wouldn't know that myself, Ms. Like to state oblivious. Did I sound irritated? Good, because I was starting to get really mad.

"I thought so too. There is still some time before dinner. Let's go see if our clothes would fit her, huh?"

Oh sweet potatoes... I just know I wouldn't like this.

xXxXxXx

And I didn't... It was absolutely mortifying when I tried to wear their shirts; there was absolutely no way for me to wear them without showing half of my... chest area. True, if I could modify them a little it wouldn't be so bad, but if I did that, I would practically destroy their T-shirts and Nami or Robin wouldn't be able to wear them.

I sighed in misery as I looked at the wooden desk before me. Well, on the bright side... I could at least fit into their trousers and shorts.

When I felt hand on my shoulder I lifted my gaze from the table and looked at the woman sitting next to me. We (me, Robin and Nami) were in the kitchen, waiting for Sanji to prepare dinner. Other pirates weren't there yes and I was only glad for it. I had a feeling that once everyone gathers, the kitchen would turn into a warzone (Nami made sure to inform me before about hers captain's tendencies to steal food).

"Don't be so sad~" said Nami with a smile that was anything but comforting. I looked at her warily when she opened her mouth again, "I am sure Sanji would be overjoyed to give you his shirts," she said loudly enough for the cook to hear. I felt my mouth fall when I registered her words.

The sound of knife dropping was heard.

"N-nami!" I stuttered as dread started to fill my whole being. I hurriedly turned my head toward the blonde boy who was standing stiffly with his back turned to us. Then slowly, almost robotically he turned to face us.

"K-K-Kiara-san? You want to wear my clothes?" His face was as red as tomato and his eyes turned into two big hearts when he addressed me. I just wanted to evaporate from embarrassment. I glared in frustration at the two giggling women and then with blush adoring my cheeks I answered the man.

"I, I guess. If you don't mind... I don't have any other T-shirts here and Nami-san's and Robin-san's are too big for me..."

"I DON'T MIND AT ALL!" he yelled passionately as blood started to gush from his nose. I yelped in shock when I saw the red liquid and I stood up to go help him, eyes wide when I saw how much blood was around. Before I could near him though, Nami stopped me and pointed towards where Chopper was just walking through the doorway, followed by other males. He screamed when he saw Sanji and was instantly at his side.

"AAaaa Sanji! Don't die! Doctor! Call a doctor!" He started to freak out when he reached his side. Um... what?! Aren't you the doctor, Mr. Reindeer?!

"You are the doctor!" snapped Nami at the flailing reindeer. I blinked. She didn't look too put out by this situation... in fact, when I looked around, I and Chopper were the only ones who looked worried about the state of the cook. I was confused. Did they don't care about their comrade well-being?

"Oh… that's true…" said the little reindeer as he kneeled over the male.

I looked around anxiously. Why did they just sit around the table like this was nothing?! I knew it! They were just cold-blooded pirates who didn't care about-

"... my shirt... wearing my shirt... only my shirt... without nothing under it... shirt..."

... What? I blushed madly and turned around jerkily at the lying male who was just starting to wake up. WHAT THE HELL?! What was he imagining?! As I thought, this was a _very bad idea._

xXxXxXx

I glared at the cackling woman that was reading magazine few ways from me. I still didn't forgive her what she did few days ago. Sure, I had now more clothes to change into, but all that embarrassment wasn't worth it... Ugh, just thinking about it made me become tomato again.

Haaah, well, at least Sanji had a lot of clothes under his belt and some of them were quite nice. He had other other clothes than suits, too.

Like a blue hoodie with wave pattern in the middle, I was wearing at the moment. The material of it was nice and I just knew that I would be really reluctant to part ways with this piece of clothing. Sure, Sanji told me that I could keep everything he gave me, but that would be too rude of me. And I don't exactly know how I would explain my new attire.

But this hoodie was just so warm and soft... uwaaa, let's think of something else.

Okay, so, let's think over my situation and what happened so far these days.

As surprising as that sounds, I was on this ship for one whole week and if I was honest with myself... I quite enjoyed my stay here.

After I got past my fear and apprehension of them and started to treat them like normal human beings (if a bit weird) it was surprisingly easy to forget that they were pirates. I mean... they totally didn't behave like ones.

Usopp explained to me, that they weren't those kinds of pirates that plundered and killed innocent people, no, they were supposedly the ones that loved adventure and who wanted to accomplish their dreams. I was skeptical about that (why did they had to call themselves 'pirates' then?) but I didn't comment on it. I didn't want to hurt his feelings after all.

I... over the week I came to realize that become quite fond of this bunch, or at least some of them.

Usopp, even though we didn't have the best start, was quite okay once I got to know him. After he apologized for lying to me about him being captain, we, surprisingly really hit it off. His stories made me always laugh and even though I knew they were all lies now, I was aware that he didn't mean any harm by telling them. It was just part of him I guess. And even with this flaw in his personality... he was a good guy. He made time to talk with me when I looked lonely or helped me clean when there was too much work for me to do. And big plus was - our personalities were quite similar- meaning we were both scaredy-cats that disliked fighting. Hah.

Sanji… even though I often felt overwhelmed by his overeager nature and his constant fluttering, I couldn't exactly dislike him. He was always courteous and polite to me and felt the moment he was too much and backed of accordingly. He wasn't some playboy that only wanted to play with women and their feelings… his compliments and gestures were genuine. And truthfully it made me feel quite happy (what woman wouldn't be pleased when a man complimented her?)... I didn't receive a lot of compliments in my time as a marine (more like none) and wel he also let me borrow his clothes and continued to prepare me the best foods I've ever eaten, so... I _may_ be a little biased there.

Then there was cute little Chopper... seriously it should be banned to be as cute as he was… and I made sure to tell him that as much as I could, because when he was embarrassed he did his weird dance and started to curse me, without any heat behind it. It was just,so,cute. Hah... if he wasn't a pirate I would have _so_ adopted him. And even though, his big form scared me the first time I saw it, with him still behaving like a big mother-hen, I could only squeal internally at his cuteness.

My relationship with Nami was weird. One moment it felt as if we have become really good friends (we usually bonded when we talked about tangerines) and next... I just wanted to be really, really far away from her (it was usually when she was angry about something... God, that woman could be _scary_ ). So yeah. I just say she was kind of okay.

Next would be Nico Robin... who surprisingly wasn't as bad as I first thought. However I still made sure to keep my distance… her black humor was often too morbid for my tastes. Also, I didn't feel too comfortable around her in general. She felt too dangerous. But I was polite at least, so there is that.

Captain was... captain. I don't have a lot to say about him. He may behave like a complete fool most of time (and sleep or eat when he didn't) but every time I see him I am reminded of the fact that it was _him_ who was a boss on this ship and it just made me so nervous that I... I just kept my distance and only told him a polite 'hello' when I saw him around.

And last would be this person full of sunshine and rainbow called Zoro. Yep, sarcasm there. Please, ignore it; this is just my coping mechanism to his scariness. I was sure he hated me. And I wasn't exaggerating there... every-time I saw the guy he _glared_ at me. I would faint there and here if it wasn't for Nami or Sanji who would distract him by either hitting him or picking a fight with him.

Seriously... what did I do wrong? Sure I was a marine, but I was trying to be polite, didn't I? I am harmless so please, stop trying to kill me with your glare!

As if summoned by that thought I felt a laser-like glare on the back of my head. I died a little inside.

 _'Uwaaa, please somebody-'_

"Everyone, get your asses here! We have a problem!"

-oh Nami, my sweet girl, my savior, here I come.

I stood up hurriedly and moved towards my savior. Others on the ship not being far behind. It was after all an unwritten law – when Nami called, you _go there_ without any question asked (funny how much I learned about this weird bunch after just one week).

When we all gathered around her, she informed us that big storm was coming from the south and that this one looked pretty serious. She gave us instruction and we all shattered to the placed we were told to.

I and Usopp were ordered to control and secure sails, catching wind by them so that we could propelled towards the north more quickly.

We worked in tandem with the long nosed boy, running around each other as we rotated sails carefully. However after few seconds we weren't coordinated enough and Usopp managed to trip over one of free ropes and ended falling to the ground in an ungraceful manner.

I blinked in surprise, but after the groaning male managed to sit up and look at me as if daring me to laugh... I couldn't really hold back.

"Pu… hahahahaha!"

"Aaaaa! Don't laugh!" He yelled at me with blush on his cheeks, standing up and nearing me, pushing his long nose near my face. I was about to respond him something between my chuckles, when...

*BOOM*

We yelped and hugged each other in fright as cannon ball suddenly landed near the ship, Going Merry swayed by waves made from the landing.

All movement on the ship stopped as everyone looked towards the ones attacking us.

Marine ship...

I suddenly felt really cold.

* * *

The end!

And right into movie we are going~! Ha!

Little interesting fact - the hoodie OC borrowed from Sanji is the one he was wearing at the ned of Thriller bark (you can find it one wiki or just type in google 'Sanji with hoodie')... I just fell in love with it... so.. yeah~~

Dragondancer81 - I have really big plans for this fic... buuut I realized I need a lot more character building before that. And also... My words just can't seem to flow like they did before. Yep! Luffy is Luffy! However... a you could read in this chapter, there is still a long way for OC to befriend him...he just feel approachable to the OC.


End file.
